November 1st, 0900:Six months since the outbreak and things almost look like normal. Stores have goods, power is back on, television is on and the telephones work. Things are different now, however. Congress as extended the state of emergency for two years. Travel restrictions remain in place.

The NU Party is ascendant. There are rallies every week. Thousands appear praising national unity, new prosperity and a better future. It is pure red, white and blue patriotism. Or at least that is what it looks like.

Cash is rare. I haven’t seen a $20 bill in two months. Everything has to be purchased using ERC: the electronic ration card. It ostensibly debts your bank account but mine would have been overdrawn weeks ago. The card, however, still works. I am told that ERC holders may be called upon for recovery work brigade enlistments of 30 days.

There is a new cash script. It can be acquired from the Township Marshal’s office in town. It is the same as cash… or so they say. Unless you have the old cash, nothing can be bought or sold without an ERC.

Naturally, there is a thriving black market. Cash, gold or silver are king in the black market. We are told constantly in television and radio ads, however, that buying in the black market is theft. There are stories of black market arrests in the news every day.

Congress is preparing to vote on additional recover measures. People are demanding that government do more to fix the economy. NU Party spokespeople are calling for temporary powers of decree be ceded by Congress to the President. I think they have enough supporters in Congress to get it done. They say the powers will be for one year.

November 21st, 0943: Today I received a “non-foreclosure” message in the mail. Since I haven’t been able to pay my mortgage, the bank is prepared to foreclose on me. I am told it can be avoided by applying for a mortgage relief allowance from the Township Marshal. It will be credited to my ERC account. Failure to do this will result, I am told, in seizure of my property.

Talk about being backed into a corner. I can’t access my accounts to make a payment but will be foreclosed on if I don’t pay and then, right on cue, the ERC system has an answer. I am left without much of a choice.

November 22nd, 1233: I signed up for mortgage relief allowance from the Township Marshal. I am now required, potentially, to serve 60 days on work assignment. I have no idea what that means or when I would be called.

December 24th, 0722: First the House and now the Senate passed an act extending power of decree to the president for the next 12 months. Many in Congress opposed this move but they were overwhelmed by NU Party members and pressure from NU Party protesters. NU Party activists replicated the Occupy Wall Street Movement of a few years ago and physically blocked the offices of Congressional reps who apposed this new enabling act. We hear rumors of violence against those who opposed the act and even violence against their families.

January 14th, 0657: Yesterday I was handed a photocopied paper describing the manner in which the outbreak occurred. It wasn’t, in fact, Islamic terrorists. The weaponized virus, the paper said, was a US developed bioweapon. It was illegally transferred to an Earth First! type group that released it as a means to reduce anthropogenic carbon dioxide. If this is true, it explains why the government had access to a vaccine so quickly. The NU Party was created, the paper said, under the principal that a good crisis should never be wasted. Is this true? I have no way of knowing but I certainly don’t deny it is possible.

I burned the paper. The new executive order against treason and sedition means you don’t want to be caught with this type of document. It wouldn’t be hard to get caught either. There are several active NU Party members in my town and an unknown number of sympathizers. In fact, this diary is making me increasingly nervous. I keep it well hidden.

February 19th, 2101: I have been assigned a job. This isn’t the ERC work assignment. This is a permanent job under the president’s “Putting America Back To Work” executive order. I am to report to the Federal Building in Cedar Rapids tomorrow at 0800. I have no idea what to expect and am tempted to not show. I don’t think I can risk it, however. Rumors of arrests and detainment are everywhere. Furthermore, it would result in the elimination of my ERC account. Without ERC, you get no gas, no electricity, no food and – at least in my case – I lose my house. I pretty much have to show.

I’m sure this has been said before, but if you put this all together and expanded on it more than would be appropriate for a blog post, this would make an incredible book. I think amazon is allowing people to upload books in ebook format to sell for the kindle. I’d buy the book. Hell I’d bet it would sell like hotcakes.

Revo Search

Revo Login

More Revo

“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, and intolerable...”